Portrait of a Man in Morning Dress
Portrait of a Man in Morning Dress
1139
Although as yet unidentified for certain, it has been suggested that the sitter in this early painting by Charles Spencelayh may be the young Joseph Chamberlain, Britain's dominant late Victorian and Edwardian radical political figure, before his signature use of a monocle. The portrait is on a wooden panel retailed in Birmingham, where Chamberlain was resident.
The jewel hanging from his neck and the stone in his tie clip may be eventual clues to the sitter’s identity. Painted at around the age of 30, Spencelayh’s technical mastery in this portrait is outstanding, particularly in his attention to detail, for example, tracing the veins on the back of his sitter’s hand, and the precise painting of his blue eyes.
c.1892-5
Oils on wooden panel
Signed in a style used c.1895. On the verso is the label of William Muller artists colourmen, London and Birmingham, probably before 1899 when they were printing a label with a Royal warrant. There is written in pencil on the back of frame, "Hayes" (twice) "16 x 10 c", "(K Denton)" and "MOG".
RELATED ITEMS
